Actress Sonali Kulkarni once took on an unusual role in Ali Abbas Zafar’s Bharat, where she played Salman Khan’s mother despite being nine years younger than the superstar. Sonali, who is 51, portrayed the older character opposite Salman, who is now 60. In a recent interaction with SCREEN, the actress opened up about how she came to accept the challenging part.
Sonali revealed that she initially questioned whether she was the right choice for the role. During the casting process, she felt she “can’t be playing this role”. However, director Ali Abbas Zafar and casting director Mukesh Chhabra were “very sure” about casting her and explained why her character was important to the film’s narrative.
She said, “The flashback meant everything to that film. That’s how Bharat gets his name and reacts to situations. No director or casting director would like to fit in a wrong person somewhere. That would be a failure on their part also. So, I tried to understand that. So, I took it up as a challenge.”
Sonali said it took “a lot of convincing” before she agreed to play the part. Apart from the creative challenge, she admitted that the opportunity to meet and work with Salman was also a “temptation” for her.
Recalling her experience with the actor, Sonali said, “We bonded very well on the sets of Bharat. One can learn from him to treat people well. He was ever gracious. And he scored a point when he gave me his cycle to ride.”
The actress also revealed that she was “paid well” for the role. She added that most of her scenes were with the child artiste who portrayed the younger version of Salman’s character.
Released in 2019, Bharat starred Salman Khan alongside Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani and Tabu. Directed and co-written by Ali Abbas Zafar, the film was a box-office success.
Meanwhile, Salman has Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace, earlier titled Battle of Galwan, and the yet-to-be-titled SVC63 in his upcoming lineup.
More Pages: Bharat Box Office Collection , Bharat Movie Review
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